October 2021 College News

1 Ann Burnette (Right) and Wayne Kraemer (Middle), featured on NPR’s award-wining podcast “Journeys of Discovery” 2 Undergraduate student, Amber Mathews 3 Student tournament winners Aaron Delgado, Johnny Vasallo, Ashton Rios, Teo Januski, Abby Robertson (Left to Right) 6 | October | College News COMMUNICATION STUDIES Communication Studies, Health Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Leadership Studies, Organizational Communication, Persuasive Communication, Political Communication, & Teacher Certif ication in Communication Studies FACULTY ACCOLADES Michael Burns gave a presentation titled, "Backstage at the Olympics: It's All About Communication" for the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University. Tis was the opening presentation for the alumni speakers series the university is hosting this semester. Ann Burnette appeared with Wayne Kraemer[1] on NPR’s award-wining podcast “Journeys of Discovery” to share insights about former president and Texas State alum Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Hill Country roots. She and Wayne also discussed Lady Bird Johnson’s infuence on American society—as well as some humorous recollections of life at LBJ Ranch, dubbed the Texas White House, while he served as the 36th president of the United States. Ann currently serves as a board member of Te Lyndon Baines Johnson Museum in San Marcos and Wayne was recently named board president. Maureen Keeley was selected to receive the Bernard J. Brommel Award for Outstanding Scholarship for Distinguished Service in Family Communication from the National Communication Association. According to NCA, “the purpose of the Brommel Award is to recognize an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the area of family communication. Dr. Keeley’s research, particularly her work on end-of-life communication and fnal conversations, has made a signifcant contribution to the feld of family communication. Based primarily on extensive interviews with both adults and children, Keeley’s research illuminates the importance of communication with and between the dying and their loved ones.” Maureen and M.A. alum Mark Generous published “Does talking at the end of life matter?: Exploring the association between fnal conversations and coping strategies” in the Southern Communication Journal . STUDENT ACCOLADES Undergraduate student Amber Mathews[2] presented her research paper, "'You Look Like a Dyke': Navigating Femininity and Bisexuality within a Heteronormative Family" to the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, & Gender Conference. DEPARTMENT ACCOLADES Te LBJ Debate Society and Elton Abernathy Forensics Society of Texas State University hosted the 33rd Annual Hill Country Swing Invitational Speech Tournament. Te Hill Country Swing is a tournament that is hosted jointly with the University of Texas. Tis year’s tournament was hosted virtually. Te University of Texas at Austin took home the championship for the Texas State-hosted portion of the tournament, with the University of Alabama fnishing second and Rice University placing third. Te Bobcats fnished fourth on the frst day. Te tournament logistics and tabulation team was headed by Jeremy Hutchins with the assistance of M.A. students Tyshee Sonnier, Dillon McCoy, Jaelyn Ashford , and Tyler Cole. Ann Burnette served as a judge for the tournament. Also judging the tournament were graduate students Samantha Perez and Terrianna Singletary. Several alums joined virtually to judge including Justin Blacklock, Joseph Bahr, Matthew Anderson, Tony-Lydia McKinney, Ben Swenson-Weiner, Miguel Porfirio, Sebastian Frost, and Goyland Williams. Ja’Quacy Minter from the University of Alabama finished as the top speaker in the tournament with Evan Ortiz and Carli Hall from UT placing second and third respectively. For Texas State, Abby Robertson placed second in Communication Analysis and fifth in Poetry Interpretation. Ashton Rios finished third in Program Oral Interpretation and Johnny Vasallo placed third in Poetry Interpretation. During the second day of the tournament, hosted by the University of Texas, the Bobcats fielded a full entry and finished second behind the University of Alabama. Rice University placed third. Te following Bobcats placed in the UT-hosted portion of the tournament: [3] Aaron Delgado: 7th in Extemporaneous Speaking; 3rd in Impromptu Speaking; and 2nd in Persuasion. Teo Januski: 4th in Informative Speaking. Ashton Rios: 5th in Program Oral Interpretation; and 1st in Prose. Abby Robertson: 2nd in Communication Analysis; 4th in Poetry; and 4th in Program Oral Interpretation. Ashlyn Trokey: 4th in Extemporaneous Speaking; and 4th in Impromptu Speaking. Johnny Vasallo: 5th in Impromptu Speaking; 2nd in Poetry; and 4th in Prose. Te next competition will be a virtual tournament hosted by James Madison University and George Mason University in Virginia. #2021COSEARCH Elizabeth K. Eger participated in the 2021 CoSearch with a theme of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her team led by Dr. Joni Charles focused on water justice and climate change response for people who are homeless in central Texas. College of Fine Arts and Communication | 7